arthur Influenza
by blossom2013
Summary: The flu strikes the entire student body of Lakewood Elementary a few weeks before their all schools field trip to Wonder World! Will the students recover in time?"


It was a chilly October day in Elwood City. The students of Lakewood Elementary were outside, at the jungle gym before the first bell. Arthur and his friends were huddled together by the jungle gym, trying to keep warm.  
"I can't believe fall is actually here" Buster said sadly as he rubbed his hands together.  
"Oh, I loooooove fall!" Muffy said happily, clicking the heels of her brown strappy shoes together. "So many cute little sweaters, jumpers, and cardigans to wear!"  
"I love fall as well" Francine spoke up. "Rosh Hashanah is one of my favorite holidays. And, my temple is starting a flag football team this year!"  
Prunella, who had been quiet and tired, and generally not well since she woke up let out a loud sneeze.  
"Oh, gross Prunella!" Muffy cried in disgust.  
"Are you okay?" Arthur asked, concerned.  
Prunella sniffled. "Sorry Muffy and yes, I'm okay. It's just allergies. They get really bad when the season changes."  
"Yeah, my asthma tends to get bad in the fall as well" Buster commented.  
Prunella coughed and her friends started to ease away from her.  
"Oh, you guys, I'll be fine!" Prunella snapped, rolling her eyes. "My allergies only last two, maybe three days tops."  
"Yeah, well, until then, stay away from me!" Muffy said, as the bell rang, signaling the students to file to their classrooms for homeroom.

***

In Mr. Ratburn's third grade classroom, as the roll call was being taken, Mr. Haney's voice came over the loud speaker.  
"Attention students! I have some exciting news! On Friday, October 27th, we, the entire student body of Lakewood Elementary will be taking a field trip to Wonder World Amusement Park!"  
Cheers erupted from the students and it took a few minutes for everyone to calm down.  
"We will be joined by the other schools in the district, including Mighty Mountain, Glenbrook Academy, and Lakewood High School. This is a day specifically for students. Your teachers will pass out permission slips and you must return them by October 20th. That is all"  
The students were buzzing with excitement. The only one who wasn't as excited was Mr. Ratburn, but he figured his students deserved a day of fun after springing that history report on them their second week of school.  
"Alright students, settle down" Mr. Ratburn said. After he finished taking the roll, he passed out the permission slips. Afterwards, he stood at the front t of the class. "Yes, we're all going to Wonder World Amusement Park. You will need to be here, at 7:30 a.m. The bus will leave the school, promptly at 8 a.m. and will arrive at the park at a quarter 10. We will stay until 8 p.m. You will need to provide your own money for lunch and fun and games, and you will be given a brown bag breakfast on the bus."  
"This is so exciting! They don't have the orange and green ticket system anymore, so we can ride the rides as many times as we want!" Arthur cried.  
"Yeah, I can't wait to ride the Hurl-A-Whirl again. On liquefy!" Buster continued, rubbing his hands together. He and Arthur high fived.  
"I want to get on that coaster that takes you backwards!" Francine spoke up.  
"I'm really looking forward to getting on that ride that takes you 300 feet into the air and you zoom down at 90 miles per hour!" Jenna said, making various hand and arm motions.  
"Alright, class, I know you're excited, but we still have work to do," said Mr. Ratburn interrupting the buzz of excitement that still hung in the air. "Please take out your math books and turn to page 102"

***

At lunch, everyone in the cafeteria was still pretty excited about all school field trip and talking about what rides they wanted to get on. Only Prunella didn't seem as excited. In fact, she looked worse than she did at morning recess. She sat at the table she usually shared with Muffy, Francine, Arthur and Buster, rubbing her temples. She barely touched her lunch.  
"Are you...okay?" Muffy asked as she cautiously took a seat next to friend.  
"No. My throat hurts and my heads hurts and my muscles ache!" she cried softly. Tears gathered into her eyes and Muffy looked genuinely concerned. She felt bad for being rude to her that morning.  
"Um, I think you need to see the nurse" Muffy replied.  
Prunella didn't even argue. She let Muffy help her to stand and the two went to the nurse. The nurse took Prunella's temperature with one of those disposable five second thermometers.  
"101!" she exclaimed. Prunella just groaned.  
"Is she gonna be okay?" Muffy asked.  
"Well," The nurse began as she threw away the disposable part of the thermometer. "The flu is going around, and I'm afraid Prunella has it. She's the fifth person to come into today. I'm gonna call and see if you can be picked up. In the meantime, you can lie down on the cot, and you Muffy, I need you to sterilize your hands, so it doesn't spread"  
As Prunella lay on the cot, Muffy washed her hands twice, and hastily used a couple of armfuls of antibacterial gel. As she headed back to the cafeteria, she hoped her friend would be better in time before the field trip!


End file.
